Chuck vs The Guy's Night
by lovelife.lovecharah
Summary: Sarah wants Chuck to have a guy's night. Chuck befriends Alan, a fellow misfit from...Two and a Half Men! But one of Charlie's poker buddies might be Fulcrum... If you do read, please review
1. Chapter 1

Chuck was working in Buy More, on an ordinary Wednesday afternoon. He was staring out the window, across the parking lot at Orange Orange, as he usually did on his lunch breaks. It was amazing that he actually managed to eat anything when he was as wrapped up in his daydreams as he was then. As he stood there, leaning against the windowsill, Sarah looked up from the counter she was cleaning and flashed him a smile. The smile that she only gave to him, that not even all of her training concerning controlling her feelings could hide. The smile that made him grin like an idiot back, his smile so wide that Morgan had once asked him if it hurt to keep his mouth like that.

"It's the pain of love, Morgan. Love hurts," Chuck had jokingly replied.

Morgan hadn't known what to say. He had walked away, shaking his head and mumbling something about "people with all the luck". And Chuck did consider himself lucky. Sure, he had some weird computer program in his head that made him a CIA asset, which really ruined his social life, but Chuck saw Sarah almost every day. And even if she would never admit that she had real feelings for Chuck, that extended beyond their cover relationship, and that were much stronger than friendship, Chuck knew. He also knew he would have to settle with just knowing, at least until Sarah was ready. If she ever would be. And Chuck had to believe that she would be someday, because he couldn't imagine living his whole life without her.

Chuck glanced at the clock and saw that he still had about ten minutes of his lunch-break left. He looked at Sarah again and decided to walk over and see her. Well, it wasn't really a decision so much as an automatic response to the new smile Sarah gave him, which was, if possible, even better than the first.

He walked out the door and across the parking lot, nearly running right into a pale man on the shorter side, with what appeared to be his teenage son.

"Really sorry about that. I didn't even see you," Chuck apologized, even as he continued walking towards the Orange Orange.

"That's alright, it was probably my fault," the man replied, with a weak attempt at a smile.

Chuck just nodded and continued walking.

"Hey Sarah," he greeted her as he shut the door behind him.

"Hey Chuck. Is anything wrong? Did you flash on anyone?" she asked, instantly worried.

"Nooo, I just came over here to see my beautiful girlfriend, like I normally do. Why would you think I was in trouble? I come over here almost every day," Chuck wondered, his forehead furrowed in worry and confusion.

"Oh, that's good. You just looked, oh I don't know, a little more forlorn than usual, and you had me worried. But who were you trying to pretend for, anyways? No one's in here, and you and I both know that I'm not, I can't be your real girlfriend. You do realize that, right Chuck?"

"Whoa! Guess you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning! I just wanted to come see you. You know how I feel about you, even if you don't want to. A guy can't help but hope a little," Chuck said with a half smile on his face, happy that he had just straight out told her that he had feelings for her without blushing (too badly), but disappointed that she was in a bad mood. He hoped it wasn't because of him.

"I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about."

So it was sort of his fault. What had he done wrong? He hadn't badgered her for information about her real identity lately. He hadn't cornered her and tried to get her to confess her feelings for him. Heck, he couldn't think of anything that he had done lately that would make her worried about him. Maybe there was a Fulcrum agent nearby, or something.

"I know that being the Intersect has prevented you from seeing your friends as much as you used to, and I really think that you should have a guy's night or something," Sarah continued.

"Really," Chuck raised his eyebrows in surprise, "and when's the last time you took a girl's night, Sarah? Don't you think you focus on your work a tiny bit too much?"

"Maybe I do, Chuck, but we are two very different people. I'm used to this job. I don't even really know what it's like to have a girl's night," she sighed, "and I guess you can't miss what you don't know."

"I don't know, Sarah. I think you should take a break. But who am I supposed to have a 'guy's night' with? I mean, Morgan obviously, but who else? I don't exactly have many friends now, and I can't picture hanging out with Casey!"

"Well, I wouldn't recommend Casey," she laughed, "but come on, you must have friends Chuck. What's not to like? You're funny, nice, and smart. Hey, what about Lester and Jeff?"

"You're not serious are you? Jeff and Lester?!? They just aren't the kind of people you invite for a night out, Sarah."

"Okay, maybe not them. I don't know Chuck. There's always Devon."

"Devon's idea of a good time is an iron man or a triathlon. I doubt he'll enjoy my idea of a guy's night, which consists mainly of gaming and TV."

"Then why don't you try to make some friends? You work at a Buy More for Christ's sake! There's got to be at least one guy in there that is interested in gaming and computers that you might be able to hang out with."

Chuck sighed. "I'll think about it. But this really doesn't sound like you. Normally you're like a worried mother telling me to watch out for strangers and stick with people I can trust!"

"Call it a change of heart. I just want you to be happy Chuck," Sarah smiled.

"You know what would make me happy Sarah. But I have to go anyways, so we'll talk about this on our date tonight, okay?"

"Sure. I'm looking forward to it! And Chuck, I need you to know that I'm sorry that I can't be what you want me to be," Sarah said soberly,

"I know Sarah, I know," he said, as he retreated out of the shop and quickly walked across the parking lot, back to his job.

A guy's night? That did kind of sound like fun. A night without worries, just hanging out with normal, everyday people. Where no one would know or care that he was the Intersect. Where he didn't have to worry about bad guys and flashes. Yeah, that did sound nice.


	2. Chapter 2

"Chuck? Thank god you're back! That man over there has been arguing with his son for the last five minutes because he doesn't like violence in video games! Can you believe it?! Video games without violence?! I just don't know how to handle this Chuck. It's up to you, bud," Morgan exclaimed, disbelief showing on his face.

Chuck had to use all of his willpower to not laugh at the amazement on Morgan's face, but he was still sure that it showed through, as Chuck had never been good at hiding his feelings. He looked over at where Morgan was pointing. It was that man Chuck had ran into when he had been coming out of the store, with what was apparently his son.

"Okay Morgan, calm down. I'll handle this. Now can you organize some of the DVDs?" Chuck asked.

Morgan nodded and wandered off, leaving Chuck to see if he could figure out how to get the customers to reach a compromise. He walked over to the man, trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

"Jake, I'm not going to buy you a game that's all about slaying innocent people! It's sick and studies have shown that-"

"Dad, it's a video game! It's not like I'll be killing real people! I want this game! Why don't you care what I want?"

"Hello. Is there any way in which I might help you? I heard you arguing and wanted to make sure everything is alright," Chuck interrupted, in his most helpful voice.

"No, we're fine, thank you," the man said.

"No we're not Dad! He won't listen to me and won't buy me this game!"

"So why do you not want your son here to play this game Mr..."

"Alan Harper. Just call me Alan. And this is my son Jake, Chuck," Alan informed him, reading Chuck's name-tag.

"What do you dislike about this game, Alan?"

"It's violent and it has no real point to it. No one learns anything, and it just doesn't seem worth it."

"Wait, so you think that people should learn things from video games, but Jake here thinks video games should be fun, right?"

"Yes, I believe that's basically it."

"Well, what if I found a way for you guys to reach a compromise?"

"As long as it doesn't cost me more money," Alan agreed.

Chuck managed to convince the man that some video games that were only slightly violent did teach people lessons, although by then he wondered if anything would get through Jake's rather thick head. Then Chuck remembered the conversation he had just had with Sarah.

"Hey, Alan, do you think you'd want to hang out with me and my friends sometime? We might be able to change your opinions about video games if you give us the chance," Chuck questioned.

Alan and Chuck had hit it off, Alan being a divorced single dad, and Chuck also being a misfit, albeit a computer nerd, so Alan gave Chuck his number, although he didn't believe that his feelings about (or against) video games were going to be changed anytime soon. Sarah will be proud of me, Chuck mused. And hoped.

Chuck managed to survive the rest of the day at Buy More without any major incidents (unless you count when Casey and Morgan got into an argument about Charlie's Angels, the movie. Morgan, of course, loved the movie and thought it was totally believable. And he had a major crush on Cameron Diaz. Casey basically thought the whole movie was totally stupid. But other than that, it really was a quiet day.

"Chuck, you up for video games tonight?" Morgan asked as they got they got ready to go home for the night.

"Sorry Morgan, but I have a date with Sarah tonight. Maybe some other time," Chuck explained.

"That's what you always say. Do you know how long it's been since we've played video games together after work? Do you Chuck? Three weeks! Three weeks! Now I'm really happy for you and Sarah but don't you think you could spend a little time with your best friend once in a while?" Morgan objected, exasperation and sadness on his face. He walked off before Chuck could answer.

Chuck walked to his Nerd Herder, pondering over what Morgan had said. Deep down, he knew he Morgan was right. But he was wrong if he thought it was Sarah's fault. Sarah wanted him to hang out with Morgan more, but Chuck never had time anymore, not with the missions and the briefings and all of the other stuff that having the Intersect in his head made necessary. It wasn't as if Chuck wouldn't enjoy a few hours of gaming. Oh well, he sighed. At least he got to spend a few hours with Sarah tonight, to preserve their cover relationship. Chuck knew he would enjoy it, and that Sarah would enjoy it more than she'd ever tell him. Because it wouldn't be "professional". Who the hell cared if it was professional? He loved Sarah. He really did. He would do anything for her, and he couldn't imagine his life without her. What would his life be like if it wasn't for the Intersect?

Maybe he should actually thank Bryce. After all, he would never have met Sarah, and even if he had he would have never got to know her if it hadn't been her mission to get to know him. Because no one as beautiful and smart as Sarah would ever take a second look at him, a computer nerd who lived with his sister and got paid eleven dollars an hour. If it wasn't for the Intersect, he probably would be hanging out with Morgan right now, playing the latest Call of Duty like they used to. He loved Morgan, but he had to admit that he'd probably take a date with Sarah over a few hours with Morgan eight times out of ten-nine if she wore that blue and white top that Chuck loved.

With a sigh, Chuck turned the key in the ignition and set of for Ellie's, to get ready. What was he supposed to wear anyways? Sarah hadn't told him where they were supposed to be going. Probably going to a restaurant he decided.

Ring. Ring. Ring, his cell went off. Sarah's picture came up, with her giving him that unbelievable, heart-stopping smile.

"Hi, Sarah."

"Hey Chuck. You looking forward to our date tonight?"

"Why do we have a mission? Is our date cancelled?" Chuck asked, hoping that she had called just to say hi and not that they couldn't go out tonight, at least not really go out.

"No, no we still have a date. I just wanted to make sure you were up to it, and see what you were doing."

"Oh. Of course I'm up to it!"

"Okay. I'll pick you up in a half hour at Ellie's, okay?"

"Yeah. See you then."

Sarah hung up, and Chuck was left still not knowing what he was supposed to wear. Why didn't I ask her? Because whenever I talk to her I forget everything, he sighed. Soon he was parking the Nerd Herder in the driveway.

"Hey, Chuck. Any plans tonight?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah, Sarah's gonna pick me up in about twenty minutes," Chuck replied.

"Please tell me you're going to change into something half-way decent!" Ellie hoped.

"That's the thing. I have no idea about where we're going, so I don't know what to wear."

"Why don't you guys stay here for once and we can eat dinner and talk. We really haven't seen Sarah in a while," Ellie suggested.

"What do you mean? You just saw her yesterday?!" Chuck argued.

"Yeah, but we haven't really talked to her in a while."

"Fine. I'll ask her," Chuck complied.

Chuck called Sarah up and mentioned Ellie's idea. Sarah obliged, because she agreed that she hadn't seen Ellie or Devon in a while, which would seem weird since her and Chuck had supposedly been dating for about five or six months now. When Sarah got there, Ellie was making dinner, her being the person she was.

"Hi Sarah! It'll be nice to really talk to you-it's been a while," Ellie smiled.

"It has!" Sarah agreed.

They ate dinner, and caught up with each other when Sarah decided to tell Ellie and Devon about her plan for Chuck's Guys Night, as she now called it.

"I totally agree with you Ellie. But there's something else that's been bugging me about Chuck, besides his obsession with video games," Sarah grinned at Chuck, "don't you think he's been distancing himself from his friends a lot lately?"

Now Chuck knew he was screwed.

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_Sorry, I promise it will pick up tomorrow :)_

_O, and I don't own Chuck :)_


	3. Chapter 3a

_Okay, I admit there's still not a lot of action in this chapter, but more does happen. I think I might do the next chapter in Sarah's POV instead of this mostly Chuck, semi-omniscient POV. What do you think?_

_Oh, and as a disclaimer, I don't own Chuck. If I did have any say in that show, Jill would be dead and Chuck and Sarah would both know that the other was in love with them :)_

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Sure, he had thought that a small night with some of his friends would be nice, but with Ellie in on the plan, he'd be lucky if all of his old college friends (except for Bryce, of course) wouldn't be invited. And Chuck really didn't want this to be a big deal. But with Ellie? Yeah, he was in trouble.

"You know, I was thinking the same thing Sarah!" Ellie exclaimed.

"So I was thinking that maybe Chuck could get together with some of his friends sometime soon-guys only, of course!" Sarah explained.

"That's a great idea! Chuck, why didn't you mention this to me?"

"Well, actually Ellie, we only just started talking about this today and-"

"Of course Devon would be there, and John, and..." Ellie interrupted Chuck.

"Of course babe, it'll be awesome!" Awesome himself agreed.

You could see her mind working, as she came up with guest lists (Casey was going to throw a fit) and a detailed plan about what they were going to do as well as, of course, a menu.

"But see, Ellie, I'd much rather have this be a small thing than a party. You know? Just a get-together with some of my friends, not a planned event with everyone I've ever known!" Chuck tried to convince her.

"Why would you want a small one when there are so many people that you haven't seen in forever?" Ellie asked, confused.

"Because I want to just play video game and hang out. I don't want to have this be a big deal. I want it to be more...relaxed!" Chuck struggled to explain without hurting his sister's feelings.

"Are you sure, Chuck? I really think that you should catch up with some-"

"Yes Ellie, I'm positive."

"What do you think, Sarah? This was your idea after all."

"Actually, I agree with Chuck, Ellie. Chuck's just not the sort of person to want a big party scene with people he hasn't seen for years," Sarah decided, after weighing her choices. On one hand, she had Chuck, who would be forever grateful to her if she agreed with him, but on the other hand, she had Ellie, who she really did think of as a sister. Ellie's approval was very important to her, so she didn't really want to go against her. But then Chuck had given her that puppy dog look, with his brown eyes staring at her and his lip stuck out and....well, her decision had been made. "But maybe we could have a big get-together some other time," she quickly added, seeing the dejected look on Ellie's face, and feeling guilty.

"Yeah, maybe this summer when we can have a big barbeque," Ellie agreed, quickly growing happier as she began to make more plans in her head.

"So who are you going to invite anyways, bro?" Devon asked.

"Well, you of course, and Morgan, and Alan, this guy I met at Buy More today, and other then that I really don't know," Chuck admitted.

"Well John of course!" Ellie exclaimed.

"I don't know, Ellie. John's not really into video games," Chuck said, trying to think of a plausible excuse.

"But I'm sure he'd love to be invited at least. I mean, he is our neighbor, and you guys do work together," Ellie persisted.

"Yeah Chuck, just invite him. If he doesn't want to come then he won't," Sarah said, winking at Chuck.

"Who's Alan, anyways?" Ellie asked.

"Oh, he's this guy I met at work today. We just really hit it off," Chuck explained, realizing how strange that would sound to Ellie.

"But you never make friend easily Chuck! Huh, I guess you guys must have really hit it off. So is this going to be all guys or are Sarah and I invited too?" Ellie wondered.

"I don't know. It depends," Chuck answered.

"Depends on what?" Sarah asked, biting on the bait.

"On whether you're up to it. We all know that Devon and I can kick you guys' butts at video games. So I understand if you don't want to be subjected to the shame that comes with losing repeatedly at video games," Chuck taunted, a smirk-ish grin on his face.

"Ohhh, you're on! You're gonna lose now bud!" Sarah challenged.

"Let's get this planned out, though, to make sure that everyone can make it Friday night," Ellie said, trying to get back to business.

"Friday night? Who said anything about Friday night?" Chuck asked.

"Oh, I just assumed that Friday would be fine, and I want this to happen as soon as possible, because you really haven't paid much time or attention to your friends lately. Why, you don't agree?" Ellie asked, her brown eyes boring into Chuck, and racking him with guilt.

"No, no, it's alright. I just think it'll be kind of...short notice," Chuck said.

"Then let's call everyone and make sure," Ellie decided.

Chuck stifled a sigh, as he couldn't come up with a decent excuse. He really didn't want to do this right now. He wanted to have a nice relaxing night with his girlfriend-no, his cover girlfriend who he wanted to be his girlfriend, he corrected himself mentally. Sarah must have recognized the look on Chuck's face, for although she didn't try to convince Ellie otherwise (probably because she knew that it would be impossible to convince Ellie to put anything off that had to do with planning), she did squeeze his hand, which had already been on top of hers. Chuck smiled, sensing that she would be there for him no matter what Ellie put him through.

"Devon, you're free Friday, right?" Ellie asked.

"Of course, babe. Even if I did have plans, you know that a night with you and Chuck and Sarah would totally be more awesome," Captain Awesome replied, as relaxed as always.

"Now, call John Chuck, and we'll se if he can come," Ellie instructed, now in full mother/planner mode.

"I don't know about this Ellie, I think he said something about being busy tonight and-"

"Chuck, I can see that his light is on from here. Just call him. It's not as if he's going to get mad at you or anything," Ellie groaned.

Sarah snickered at the way Ellie thought of Casey,as a harmless if grumpy neighbor and friend of Chuck's. She really didn't know if Ellie could be much farther from the truth.

"What's funny, Sarah?" Ellie asked, confused.

"Oh, just the thought of John actually hurting someone. I mean, sure he looks all big and tough, but we all know he wouldn't hurt a fly," Sarah concocted, using all of her willpower to force herself not to laugh. She hoped Casey was listening to them through his bugs.

Chuck glared at her and reached for his cell phone, knowing that Sarah wasn't going to get him out of this one.

"Umm, hi John-"

"Yeah, it's nice to talk to you too-"

"NO! I just wanted to ask you if you were free Friday night."

"Oh, you are?"

"Well, then, I'm having a little get-together at my place-"

"Yes, I'm completely serious."

Ellie looked confused, but Chuck forced a smile at her, and continued talking. Meanwhile, Sarah wanted to say something but she knew she couldn't without laughing.

"Wait, you'll come?"

"Really?"

"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow at work."

"Yep, can't wait either. Bye John," Chuck hung up the phone, a look of shock on his face.

"So he's coming?" Ellie assumed.

"Yeah. Yeah, he's coming. He said he couldn't wait," Chuck said, shooting a questioning look at Sarah. Sarah subtly shrugged in answer, wondering what Casey had planned. They both knew that Casey would never, ever willingly be caught playing video games with a bunch of "weak nerds", as he called Chuck and his friends.

"Then that's settled. So how about this Alan?" Ellie pushed, obviously wanting to get all of the planning out of the way.

Chuck picked up the phone again, not knowing what to expect after talking to Casey. "Hi, is this Alan?"

"Oh, hi Charlie. Is Alan there? This is-"

"No, I'm not gay! Why would you think-"

Everyone started laughing, as Chuck turned bright red.

"What? Alan's gay? But I thought he had been marri-"

Chuck held the phone away from his ear, and everyone heard yelling from the other end.

"Why on earth would you tell someone I'm gay, Charlie?"

"Oh, c'mon Alan, you're not fooling anyone!"

"CHARLIE! You very well know that I am completely straight. Judith is the one who went to-"

"Yeah, yeah, fine, you're straight. Supposedly. Here's the phone."

"Hello? This is Alan Harper."

"Yes, this is Chuck-"

"Yeah, from Buy More."

"I'm glad Jake liked the game. So, I was wondering if-"

"Well, yeah, I am kind of curious as to what that argument was about."

"Oh, he's your brother. Really? A player-"

"Oh, yeah. I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place with some of my friends Friday."

"Okay. Yes, Jake can come too. Is he any good at gaming?"

"Oh, really? We'll see who wins then."

"Okay, yep, bye."

"Alan's coming, and he might be bringing Jake," Chuck relayed.

"So what was all the arguing anyways?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, I guess that was his brother, Charlie. Apparently he's player so he gives Alan a lot of crap about being single and divorced," Chuck explained.

"Oh, yeah, I know what that can be like," Devon interjected.

Everyone stared at him.

"Oh, no! I meant sibling rivalry!" Devon explained.

"Oh! You really had me a little worried for a minute there," Ellie said, apparently relieved.

"No, no, babe. That's not what I meant. That would so not be awesome. But who's Jake anyways?" Devon assured Ellie and tried to change the subject.

"Jake is Alan's son. I think he's about twelve, thirteen, maybe fourteen," Chuck explained.

"He's not one of those kids who like goes around hitting on women, is he? Like his uncle?" Ellie asked, worried.

"Didn't seem like it to me. But that doesn't really mean anything, since all he talked about was video games," Chuck said.

"Sounds like you two might really get along," Sarah joked.

"Okay, so we have everyone, right?" Ellie asked.

"Wait, what about Morgan?" Sarah inquired.

Ellie scowled at her.

"Yeah, we can't have a night with all of my friends without Morgan," Chuck agreed.

"Sorry babe, but they're right," Devon responded to the hopeful look Ellie gave him, asking for his support.

Wordlessly, Chuck picked up his phone.

"Yeah, hey man!"

"No, don't still be mad at me!"

"Well, at least listen to what I have to say!"

"Okay. Sarah, Ellie, Devon, and I are going to have a few other people over for some video games. You in?"

"So are you doing anything Friday night?"

"Yes, I said Ellie."

Chuck thought steam was going to start coming off of Ellie, judging by the bright red her face was. And it was obvious that it wasn't from embarrassment.

"So I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Morgan."

" **That's** its, Ellie. Morgan, Ca-John, Alan, maybe Jake, you, Devon, and Sarah, of course," Chuck corrected her.

Ellie only rolled her eyes in response, as she wrote down all of the names. "So what kind of food will you want?"

"Ellie, do you think we can figure this out tomorrow? I was really looking forward to a night hanging with you and Devon and Chuck. Not hours planning a night for Chuck that he doesn't even seem that excited about," Sarah said, nudging Chuck as she said it.

"Hey, that's not true! I am looking forward to this! I'm just not into the whole 'planning every aspect of it thing'!" Chuck denied, mostly because of the hurt/reproachful look Ellie was giving him.

"I don't know Chuck. It does seem like you haven't said very much and this is, after all, going to be your party," Ellie negotiated.

"No, no, you misunderstood me! I **want** to spend some time with all of you and my other friends, just hanging out. But I don't want this to be the big deal you're making it," Chuck attempted to explain.

"Fine. Then we'll do this tomorrow," Ellie proclaimed, setting the notebook on the table. There was a note of finality about it that everyone noticed, so they decided to just listen to Ellie.

"So what do you want to do?" Ellie questioned.

Chuck looked at Sarah hopefully, wondering if she could come up with something that might get Ellie to forget about Friday for at least a few minutes. Sarah just looked back at him, seemingly deep in thought, but she couldn't seem to think of anything either.

"Like, it's still light out-we can go for a walk on the beach or a picnic or something," Devon suggested.

"You know what, that sounds nice," Sarah agreed, clutching Chuck's arm and winking at him.

With that, it was decided that they were going to the beach. After a short argument about whether they were actually going to swim (they weren't because it was getting late), they set off for the beach.

In the backseat, Sarah whispered to Chuck, seeming to play the part of the adoring girlfriend, whispering sweet nothings in her lover's ear. But unless information about suspicious people seen hanging around the Buy More could be considered sweet…

"So I just wanted to make sure. You haven't seen anyone today that looked strange to you, or that you flashed on?" Sarah murmured, her lips softly brushing against his ear.

"U-uh no. No one at all. Unless you count Casey. He looked pretty strange in a Buy More," Chuck weakly attempted to joke, as having Sarah be this close was really starting to make him nervous.

Sarah laughed, "Chuck, I'm your girlfriend, remember? I'm supposed to be all over you."

"Right, right. But it just doesn't feel right because I wish it was real, and meanwhile you're viewing this like it's a mission, because I am you-your job," Chuck complained.

"Chuck, nothing with you is like work. I enjoy it much too much to think of it as work," Sarah said, rather suggestively, "and you might want to start showing me a little more attention, because Ellie keeps giving you strange looks."

"I don't know, Sarah. I can't just pretend to like you. It doesn't work that way for me."

"Well, then, we might have a minor problem because I think she just asked Devon why we never kiss," Sarah informed him.

"B-but, I can't just kiss you," Chuck objected, as Sarah leaned into him.

"Why not?" Sarah asked with an alluring smile.

She bent down and kissed him. When their lips touched, neither of them were completely prepared for the sparks they seemed to form, or the tingling sensation. She continued to kiss him, and although it took a few seconds, he responded. And they were caught in a spell, both of them never wanting to let the other go. Realizing that there was something real between them, they clung to each other, tongues exploring each others' until they heard a noise that forced Sarah to turn her spy senses back on. But then they realized what it was. They had apparently arrived at the beach, and Ellie and Devon were cheering for them.

"Thanks guys," Chuck remarked dryly, once he got read of (most of) his lightheadedness.

"Okay then, let's go see the beach," Devon said.

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_This chapter isn't completely done-let's call it chapter 3a, because I want to post to now because I don't know how soon I'll be able to post again :) Now, there's this button a little below here that says something about reviewing, and it'd be much appreciated if you, I don't know, CLICKED on it. I'd love to know what I can approve on, or change, or what I'm doing well :) Thanks =)_


	4. Chapter 3b

_Here's part 2 of chapter 3. Hope you like it :) Once again, please tell me if you really like or dislike something, or you feel that I'm not staying true to a character, or anything. Or a compliment if you really do like it :) I'm thankful for the response I've had, since this is my first ever fanfiction, and I wasn't/am not sure how good it is :) So, enjoy, or at least try to :) And sorry I didn't post it earlier :/_

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The beach was fairly busy, but Chuck managed to find a more secluded area when Ellie and Awesome went to get a bite to eat-Chuck wasn't really hungry and Sarah had been extremely quiet since the kiss. Chuck wanted to talk about it though, and he was determined to find out if they really could at least try to be a real couple. Not even Sarah could deny that they had a connection now. That kiss had been everything that their first, scary "real" kiss hadn't been. It had been thought out, and it most definitely had not been because they thought they were going to die in a few seconds. It had felt more normal too. It had been the way a normal couple would have kissed, not an agent and an asset who had feelings for each other that they wouldn't admit. Chuck still couldn't wrap his mind around it.

Even when he had kissed Jill, it hadn't been like that. That kiss had been like fireworks exploding, sending fire throughout his body. It had felt _right_. Like they were meant to be. And, most of all, it had felt _real_.

It was for those reasons that he was so bent on finding a quiet place on the beach. Sure, he knew that Sarah probably wouldn't want to talk. But he could try. He might be able to get something out of her, maybe only an expression, but maybe she would slip up somehow, and Chuck would find something out. Because even the eternally optimistic Chuck knew better than to believe that Sarah would just come out and spill her feelings about him.

Besides, Sarah had been even more complicated than usual lately. One minute she was pushing Chuck away, and the next she was flirting with him when there was no reason for her to. Chuck had to figure out what was going on, to keep what was left of his sanity. He had lost enough of it when he had been sent the Intersect.

"Chuck, where are we going?" Sarah groaned, speaking for only the second or third time since the kiss.

"This way," he directed her, obviously avoiding her question.

Sarah sighed, but she continued to walk with him, their arms intertwined like a normal couple. Why hadn't she taken her arm out of his, anyways? Normally she tried to avoid any form of PDA so they wouldn't "get confused", as she put it.

"Okay, do you want to sit down?" Chuck said, already spreading a towel out on the sand, underneath at tree. It was almost completely empty here, with only the gulls talking.

Sarah sat, albeit rather stiffly and reluctantly. Now Chuck knew something was wrong. Sarah would never have sat down voluntarily, not when she must knew that Chuck wanted to have a serious discussion about feelings. And she had to know that that was what Chuck wanted to talk about-even if he had tried to hide it, he had been told many times that he wore his heart on his sleeve.

"Sarah-"

"Chuck, I don't know, okay? I really don't know what I'm going to do. I know what I want. I know what's professional. So what am I going to do? I don't know!" Sarah gasped, apparently fighting tears.

Chuck looked at her in amazement. Sarah never cried. He didn't even think Sarah was capable of crying. Still stunned, Chuck walked over and bent down to hug Sarah, who was hugging her knees as she still fought back any physical sign of her emotions. She let go. Sarah grabbed Chuck and held him, held him as if she was afraid of losing him, as if she thought he was going to be taken from her any second.

"It's alright, it's alright," Chuck murmured, unsure of what he should do.

"But it's not," Sarah gasped, "I don't deserve you, Chuck. You're too good for me. I can't even make any real promises for you, not really, and yet you stay."

"I'm too good for you?! Sarah, you're way out of my league. You're smart and beautiful. You're gorgeous, inside, and outside. You're perfect. And me? I'm a nerd who makes eleven dollars an hour. What do you see in me?"

That was too much for Sarah. She had managed not to cry until now, but that was too much. Sobbing into his chest, she tried to talk.

"But I can't promise you anything, Chuck! You deserve someone who-who can," she managed to say.

Chuck shook her lightly, "Sarah, I don't want someone who can promise to always be there for me and all of that. I'm in love with you. I don't want you to try to be someone you're not, and I most certainly don't want someone else. Sarah, all I want is you."

Chuck sat there and held Sarah. He didn't know how long they sat there when his phone rang. He made no motion to answer it, but Sarah looked up at him and indicated that he should.

"You sure?"

She nodded.

"Hello?"

"Tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, I think I can. Can my-"

"Umm, I don't know if that'll work. I have-"

"I have a girlfriend, so-"

"I'm not sure, let me ask her," Chuck covered his phone,"Sarah, I know this really isn't the time, but would you like to go to Alan's house with me tomorrow?"

"I'd love to.

Chuck gave her a dazzling smile in return, "Yes, she'll come."

"See you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, too. Bye."

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Sarah asked, as Chuck gently wiped a last tear from her face.

"We're supposed to be going to Alan's, just to hang out. I guess Jake's over at his mother's, and Alan was thinking about hitting a few clubs. However, since I have a girlfriend, he said we could hang at his house and drink or whatever you want to," Chuck explained. "Of course, that's only if you want to," he quickly added.

"Let's go. It might be fun, and I don't believe we're going to do anything about the guys who have been around Buymore until this weekend."

"Thank you. I know that hanging out with two social misfits probably isn't the best offer you've ever had."

"Chuck,-"

"There you guys are! We've been all over the place looking for you! Are you ready to call it a night or what?" Ellie asked.

"Sorry! We lost track of time! But yeah, we should probably leave-work tomorrow," Chuck exclaimed, trying to hide Sarah's tear-stained face and not babble at the same time.

He pulled Sarah into him, and she subtly pushed her face into his shirt. Praying that the dim light would hide any discoloration, she forced a smile and raised her head.

"Did you have fun?" Sarah asked, then realized how lame that must have sounded.

But Ellie didn't seem to notice as she looked adoringly into Devon's eyes, "Yes, it was great to have a little time off of work and out of the apartment. But it would have been nice if we could have found you guys-I thought one of the big ideas behind this was that we were going to all be together, like a double date."

"Sorry Ellie, I dragged Chuck off because I wanted to talk to him, and then, well, you know how charming your brother can be," Sarah smiled, trying to come up with a believable excuse for Ellie.

Ellie just nodded and started walking towards the car, apparently sensing that something was off. Oh, crap, Sarah thought. What did I do wrong? And then she realized that Ellie had probably expected for them to be a little more, umm, disheveled, after some time on a beach together. But even that wouldn't have caused Ellie to seem that unconvinced. Ellie must have thought that something wasn't quite right about their relationship in the first place. Wait, she probably thought that Sarah was going to sleep over tonight. After all, what would a normal girlfriend do? Crap! She couldn't spend the night in the same room as Chuck! Not after what she had just told him. Spending the night would just make him think that she was starting to lean towards the unprofessional side. Maybe she could sneak out the window. Or maybe-

Her thoughts were interrupted by Chuck, "Sarah, are you alright?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, flashing him a bright smile.

Chuck looked at her worriedly, seeing through the fake smile that didn't reach her eyes, "because you totally zoned out on us."

"I did?" Sarah asked, trying to figure out why Chuck and Ellie were both staring at her.

"Yeah. I asked you if you wanted anything to eat before we left. It's no big deal, but you just didn't seem to be completely with it, " Chuck answered.

"Are you feeling alright?" Ellie worried, "because if you aren't we should really bring you to an ER or you should at least let me check you."

"No, no, I'm fine guys. Really! I was just thinking. And no, I'm not really that hungry, Chuck," Sarah replied.

They didn't seem convinced, but they did give up, and Chuck escorted her to the car, being even more cautious that he usually did. God, what's the matter with me? I can't lie about our relationship, and I can't even get them to believe that I am fine. Although that wasn't completely true. Sarah did feel a little woozy. But she couldn't tell if it was just from being around Chuck, like it normally was, or if it was something more.

Twenty minutes later she was hunched over Chuck's toilet, puking. It had apparently been something more.

"Sarah, don't even think about trying to go home. I'll take care of you for once," Chuck said, reading her mind as she lifted her head and looked around for her keys. She really didn't want to stay here. It would make her feel too vulnerable, being sick and having Chuck try to take care of her. She was supposed to take care of Chuck, for God's sake! But as she tried to get up so as to argue with Chuck face to face and fell, dizzy, she knew she would have to stay.

"Are you alright?" Chuck cried, immediately jumping forward and catching her.

He was surprisingly strong, she thought. But she shouldn't be thinking that. She should think of Chuck as her asset and nothing more. But as he lifted her, and goosebumps went down her back that were **not** caused by her fever, she knew she would have to worry about that some other time.

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_I'm really, really sorry about not posting until now, but I forgot my password and then my desktop like crashed so I had to wait until I could work on my laptop again, and it was just a pain :( So I'm sorry, but I hope you did enjoy the rest of this chapter. I will try to post the __**whole**__ fourth chapter tomorrow :) I haven't been able to individually thank everyone who reviewed last time, but I'm trying to, and I did really appreciate it. Thank you :) Please review again if you have time :)_


	5. Chapter 4

_Thanks for the reviews! _

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"Hey Chuck, how is she?" Ellie whispered, inspecting Sarah, who had finally fallen asleep a few hours ago.

"She seems better, but she's not great," Chuck admitted, his forehead creased with worry.

"That's good, kind of. Why aren't you laying beside her or anything Chuck? You never get sick, and I don't think Sarah would mind," Ellie suggested, looking out for her brother, as usual.

"There have been studies that have shown that having loved ones nearby can speed up the healing process. And anyways, since when have you been reluctant to lay next to your girlfriend?" Ellie said in answer to his skeptical look.

Chuck nodded and, holding his breath, carefully positioned himself next to Sarah, and, since Ellie was still carefully watching, draped his arms around her. Ellie gave a content smile and she left the room. Chuck, worried that Sarah would wake up then with his luck, began to slowly turn over when Sarah, still asleep, curled into his chest and laid her arms around him, holding him tightly. Chuck was stuck. But, looking down into that blonde hair, he found that he didn't really mind, at least not as much as he knew he should.

Sarah woke up, feeling much better. But something was off. What was it? She tensed up, realizing that she was being held close to someone. Slowly, tentatively, she looked up, only to find herself looking straight into Chuck's face. She relaxed, although her mind was still racing, trying to figure out what had happened. She clearly remembered Chuck laying her in his bed and then retreating to the floor. So how had he ended up next to her? Although she really didn't mind, she found herself thinking. How natural it felt to lay next to him, to be in bed with him. She allowed herself to, just for the moment, take in what it was like, what it might feel like to live a normal life. But just as quickly as she thought it she knew that she shouldn't. But for now...who would ever know that she hadn't slept right through, that she had passed up a chance to put the intersect in his place? With a smile, she laid her head back on his arm and allowed herself to-just this once-relax.

"Walker! Get up!" a loud, familiar voice bellowed.

Sarah jumped out of bed instinctively, only to fall to the floor, still dizzy. At least her stomach wasn't bothering her, she thought. She realized it had been Casey that had woke her up. Oh no, did he see her and Chuck together? She turned quickly to look and see if Chuck was still on the bed, only to be hit with another wave of dizziness. But Chuck wasn't in bed. Unless she was even sicker than she though. Maybe she was hallucinating, or this was some weird dream. Chuck never got up before Sarah. She knew. She always got up earlier, thanks to years of training. But there Chuck was, standing beside Casey, having apparently just came out of the shower, and obviously resisting the urge to help her up in front of Casey.

"Good morning, Sarah," Chuck said softly.

"There's nothing good about it," Sarah replied, only to find that her throat was sore and strained, so it came out in a scratchy whisper.

"That's no way to act, Walker. And you haven't even heard your new mission," Casey responded, his trademark smirk on.

"M-mission?! How am I supposed to conduct a mission when I can't walk a straight line?! I'll be putting everyone around me in danger!" Sarah sputtered, once again forcing her throat to form words that it didn't seem to want to. If only she could get a drink, maybe she could explain to Casey just how she was feeling and wipe that insolent smirk off of his face!

"She's right, you know. She'll just be endangering everyone involved in any mission she participates in," Chuck agreed, although everyone knew he was more worried about Sarah than anyone else on the mission.

"You idiots! Do you really think I would risk my life just for one mission? Now, what if she was supposed to be sick?" Casey let that sink in for minute.

"What?!" Chuck and Sarah were both completely and totally confused.

"You, Bartowski, are going to call Arnold or whatever his name is and tell him that,as your girlfriend is sick, you won't be able to go out tonight. However, he can come to your house, because you wouldn't mind having company while you take care of Walker. You are going to do this because we believe that Adam's brother is involved with a Fulcrum agent. Now, since Albert's car was damaged in a mysterious hit and run," here Casey paused to snicker suggestively, "his brother will most likely be dropping him off. You, Bartowski, are to get close to his brother. And then you will hopefully meet the Fulcrum agent."

"But Casey, how is this supposed to work? Why would Charlie want anything to do with me? According to Alan he's a cool player who wouldn't be paid to associate with a nerd like me," Chuck asked

"No, he might not give a damn about you, but he will be interested in Walker here, cocky as he is."

"Casey, I am not going to sed-"

"No, you're not. You're going to play the part of a loving, devoted girlfriend. We all know that Chuck here wouldn't be able to focus on the mission if he even thought it would lead to you in bed with someone."

"Then how am I supposed to get his attention?" Sarah groaned, now thoroughly confused. This was just too much for her to wrap her dizzy head around.

"Believe me, you will. Now, as we have been eavesdropping on Sheene's calls lately, we have found that he has been talking to a shrink. Thing is, he's been loving having women basically jump in bed with him over the years, but the shrink wants him to try to get a woman who isn't quite as easy as his usuals. You, Walker, are going to be that woman."

"But didn't the psychologist mean hard, like actual winning a girl over, not har like , a girl who's already taken?" Chuck interjected.

"Yes, I'm sure the shrink did, but let's just say that Sheen doesn't necessarily think that's what she meant. He is, after all, a pig," Casey explained.

Now Sarah was nodding, albeit slowly, "of course, I'll play hard to get, and Charlie will think it's exactly what the doctor's ordered!"

"I don't know about this. Is this guy dangerous? Sarah's sick, she might get hurt if he tries to actually take her," Chuck worried.

"Don't worry. Guy's harmless. It's one of his buddies that we're looking for. You just have to act the part of the naive boyfriend, and pretend not to see any advances he might make on her."

"Like that's anything new," Chuck muttered.

Sarah looked at Chuck. She instantly wanted to go over and hug him, to assure him of her feelings for him, and just comfort him. But then she looked at Casey and was snapped back to reality. Where Chuck was off-limits. "Chuck has to become friends with Charlie in order to find the Fulcrum agent? But doesn't Alan live with Charlie? Why does he have to become friends with Charlie to see Charlie's friends?" Sarah wondered, wanting to have nothing to do with a mission today.

"Because Charlie and Alan don't get along. We've been monitoring them for a while now, and it seems like whenever Charlie has friends around, Alan leaves and goes somewhere else. Chuck won't meet anyone having anything to do with Charlie through Alan," Casey explained.

Sarah nodded, trying to focus although she really just wanted to go back to sleep. Casey looked pointedly at Chuck, who reluctantly nodded too, deciding that there was no convincing argument he was going to be able to pitch to Casey, as insensitive as he was to human weaknesses like sickness and-the worst of them all-fear.

"We don't have all day, Chuck. Call him to make sure he can get over here," Casey said impatiently.

Chuck picked up the phone once again, making yet another phone call that he really didn't want to.

"Hello, is Alan there?"

"Hi Jake, yeah, I can wait. What are you eating there anyways?"

"Oh, I could hear you chewing on the chips."

"Hi Alan?"

"This is Chuck again."

"Well, yeah, something is wrong, actually."

"No, no, nothing major. It's just that Sarah-"

"Yeah, my girlfriend, is sick, so I won't be able to come over tonight."

"Well, I want to make sure she's alright and everything, so I'm going to stay here and take care of her. However-"

"Oh, it's a bad fluish-cold thing. But we were wondering if you would come over here tonight? We'd love the company."

"Yes, she said it'd be great if you'd come over."

"Really?! Oh, I'm sorry about your car. Is there another way you can get here?"

"Oh, your brother will drop you off?"

"He can join us if he wants to."

"Not his thing?"

"That's alright."

"Okay, I'll see you tonight."

"Yes, you can bring Jake."

"Okay, bye."

Casey looked at him expectantly.

"Charlie will be dropping Alan off at about six or seven tonight, and Jake will be coming with him," Chuck informed them.

"Jake? Who the hell's Jake?"

"Jake is Alan's son. I thought you said that you guys did research on them," Chuck said reproachfully.

"We did. Wait, is he the short chubby guy that really likes food?"

"Yeah, that would be him."

"Oh. We though he was Charlie's roommate. Couldn't figure out why he didn't have to pay for the food he ate."

"His roommate?! The kid might be 14 at most. Why did you think he was renting?"

"You run into some weird kids in the CIA. I guess you just kind of lose the concept of age," Casey shrugged, "tonight I'll be right outside if you need me. You aren't going to be wired because the guy probably won't there tonight, but all you have to do is let out one girlish scream-yes, Bartowski, I'm talking to you- and I'm there."

Casey walked out, leaving Sarah and Chuck deep in thought. Well, actually Chuck was deep in though while Sarah was deep in slumber. How am I supposed to get a player who will want my 'girlfriend' to be friends with me? Chuck wasn't sure how the mission tonight was going to go, but he was grateful for one thing: Ellie and Alan would be there so Chuck had the chance to show Sarah what a great couple they'd be without raising Casey's suspicions. He would take care of her while she was sick. He'd wait on her hand and foot, he decided. Staring now.

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_Please review :) I'd say I was going to have another chapter up at so and so time, but whenever I do I don't manage to. It's like I jinx myself! :) So, I am working on the next chapter. I'll get it up as soon as possible (notice, no specific day :)) Thanks everyone for the reviews! Please continue to read and review!_


	6. Chapter 5

_Extremely sorry about time between postings. Have already started on 6th chapter, so hope that helps on next update time. I hope you enjoy :) Oh, and disclaimer, although I always seem to forget: I own no part of Chuck, NBC, or the Wedding Singer_

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"Chuck!" Sarah gasped, "Need...trash can." She was rocking back and forth on the bed, gritting her teeth and clutching her stomach.

Chuck grabbed the trash can, which had been moved to the other side of the room when Casey had came in, and quickly shoved it at Sarah.

Maybe this whole thing about showing Sarah how great he was wasn't going to be as, well, great, as he'd thought.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Chuck asked, trying to figure out how he could help her.

"S-sprite?" Sarah gasped, hoping that it would help her raw throat.

"Coming up," Chuck nodded, hurrying out to the the kitchen. He quickly found a glass and poured Sprite into it. "Just when I thought she was getting better," he muttered to himself.

"Really Chuck? If she's still not feeling well maybe we should take her to the hospital. She might have something more serious than I though," Ellie worried, overhearing her brother.

Chuck groaned, "Do you really think so? It's not just some common cold or flu that will go away on its own?" Chuck asked hopefully.

"I'm honestly not sure. If you want me to, I can check her out to make sure, since I haven't really gave her a complete diagnosis yet," Ellie offered.

"I'll ask her. Just give me a minute," Chuck agreed. He wasn't sure if Sarah would go along with it, though. Sarah probably would rather not have there be any reason to cancel the mission tonight if she was seriously sick, and Chuck doubted that she would ever accept that she was seriously sick. She was more the type to live in denial, believing she could conquer anything. And if something was between Sarah's health and Sarah's happiness, Chuck might have a tough decision but he was pretty sure he would rather have her alive and healthy and mad at him than extremely sick and yet still content.

"Umm, Sarah?" Chuck whispered, unsure of whether she might have fallen back asleep.

"What's the matter?" Sarah asked, instantly snapping into protector mode. She attempted to sit up, only to topple over, apparently dizzy.

"Nothing, nothing!" Chuck quickly denied, "But Ellie and I are kinda worried about you and-"

"Why should you be worried about me? I'm fine. I'm supposed to take care of you, not the other way around and if you-"

"Sarah, you're sick," Chuck interrupted, "And you can't deny that. I just want to make sure that it's nothing serious. If you are seriously sick," Sarah threw him a reproachful look, "Which is extremely unlikely, then I want to make sure nothing happens to you."

"But Chuck, I'm fine. It's just a little-" Sarah sputtered, and immediately lost her voice. She could tell Chuck hadn't been able to understand anything she had said after "fine".

"But-"

"Chuck! I am not extremely sick!" Sarah said, using all that was left of her voice in her frustration.

"Sarah! I know that you're probably going to be absolutely fine and that I'm probably overreacting. But I'm not willing to take a chance. I care about you, and if something were to happen to you that I might have been able to stop I would never forgive myself."

Sarah was touched by Chuck's words, but she still didn't agree. She began to shake her head when Chuck turned his secret weapon on her. He gazed into her eyes, searching for something. With his beautiful brown eyes, which seemed to Sarah to be slightly watery right now. His eyes, so east to read, showered her in affection and protectiveness. And she knew, even as she lost herself in his eyes, she was going to have to give in.

"For me Sarah? Please, just humor me and then you can tell me how stupid it was to waste Ellie's time when it turns out that you're perfectly alright," Chuck pleaded.

"For you Chuck," Sarah weakly agreed, using the little that was left of her voice.

Chuck grinned, giving her a huge smile. He hugged her tightly, and then, realizing that he had probably crossed one of Sarah's boundaries in her weak (and unsuccessful) attempt to keep them from developing feelings for each other, he began to pull away. It surprised him to feel Sarah wrap her arms around him just as tightly. He could have sworn that when he detached himself from her he heard her mumble something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "I don't deserve you", but he knew better than to kid himself.

Chuck retreated to the hallway and found Ellie, "She said she'd appreciate it if you'd make sure that there's nothing seriously wrong," Chuck said.

Ellie nodded and walked towards Chuck's room. She then paused and turned around, "You aren't coming?"

Chuck scrambled for an excuse, when Sarah thankfully gave him one, "Chuck? You forgot the key to my apartment, and you're probably going to need it if you're actually going to get my stuff."

"Oh, sorry, stupid me," Chuck called back. He got the key from Sarah and was on his way.

It wasn't until Chuck had actually reached her apartment that he realized he didn't know what _stuff_ he was supposed to get. He fumbled with the key and opened the door to her apartment. Probably clothes, he realized. After opening the first draw to reveal Sarah's bras and panties, he managed to regain his composure (for the most part), and put together what he thought was an alright outfit. He figured she would just keep wearing his T-shirts to bed, so that was taken care of. What else would she want? He carefully surveyed her apartment, never having been given the chance to really look at it before.

He wandered over to a small bookshelf, on which was "_Pride and Prejudice"_, along with many other books that Chuck didn't think were even in the same class as the Star Wars series. Nevertheless, he picked up a few of the more worn books and placed them in an empty tote bag he had found. Then he wandered into her bathroom and, with much blushing, gathered what he believed (and hoped) were her "essentials". Now, Chuck took one last look around the apartment, trying to memorize everything and find out more about the woman that he loved. With a sigh, Chuck left, tote bag in hand, and hoped that Ellie had deduced that Sarah just had a 48 hour virus or something.

"There you are Chuck! We were beginning to worry about you!" Ellie exclaimed.

"Sorry. There was more traffic than I expected," he explained. "So...what's the diagnosis?"

"Nothing to worry about. Sarah was right. I think it'll last another day or two, but Sarah will be fine. And she's stopped vomiting, which I'm sure you'll both appreciate," Ellie smiled.

"Thanks for checking Ell," Chuck hugged his sister, grateful that Sarah would be absolutely fine.

"No problem. Now, since my shifts have been changed, I'll be on my way to work. Devon's working all night too, so see you tomorrow Chuck! Take care of Sarah," Ellie kissed her brother on the cheek and left for the hospital.

Chuck walked into his room, where Sarah was laying down, seemingly staring at the ceiling.

"I uh picked up some clothes and books for you. I'm not sure if it's what you wanted but-"

Sarah took the bag that Chuck was holding out to her. She glanced at the contents of the bag, but seemed to be thinking about something else. "Thanks Chuck, I really appreciate it. Now, are you ready for the mission tonight? Alan's probably going to be coming over in just a few hours."

"Are you kidding me?! Am I ready? You're the one who's laying in bed sick! Of course I'm ready, as long as you are," Chuck cried.

"Well, I'm ready. I'm feeling better and I know that you'll have my back if anything goes wrong," Sarah replied, weakly smiling.

Chuck grinned, amazed. Sarah had said that Chuck made made her feel safe. Not Casey. Not even Chuck and Casey. Just Chuck.

"Wait, are you really feeling better, or are you just trying to make sure I won't get worked up about the mission?" Chuck asked.

"No, I really do feel a little better. I mean, I don't exactly feel like jumping up and taking a jog around the block, but I feel like I might actually be able to stay awake this evening," Sarah answered.

"That's good. Now, do you want to take a nap until Alan gets here or watch a movie or what?" Chuck wondered.

"A movie sounds good. What do you suggest?"

"Your pick. You're sick," Chuck smiled.

Sarah looked to be deep in thought, probably trying to think of a good movie, so it took her by surprise when Chuck picked her up and carefully began to carry her out of his room.

"Hey!" she laughed, "I can probably walk, you know."

Chuck laughed, "You couldn't even get out of bed this morning without falling. I'm not going to let you try to walk. That would just be asking for an accident!"

Sarah just groaned. However, when Chuck carefully placed her on the couch in the living room, they both seemed to grow more serious.

"Sarah, do you think we can talk?"

"About what Chuck?" Sarah asked, hoping he wasn't talking about what she thought he was. Because god knows what she would say in her current state. She had said enough last night.

"About what you said on the beach. Because I want to give us a chance-"

"It would be completely unprofessional and Beckman would have me transferred to another mission faster than you can blink."

"But you want to. I _know _you want to Sarah. Do you think that maybe, sometime in the future, if I can get this thing out of my head you'll give us a chance?" Chuck persisted.

"Well-"

"Because that's all I need, Sarah. It might not be what I want, but if I can have some hope, some desperate hope that in the future I might be lucky enough to even have a chance at having a real relationship with you, I can wait. Please Sarah, tell me the truth," Chuck looked at her pleadingly.

"Chuck, if you can get the Intersect out of your head and the CIA is no longer involved in your love life, you'll be able to have _any_ girl you want. You have it all, good looks, brains, a sense of humor, all of it. And if I was so lucky as to be a girl you chose, I would definitely give you a chance."

"Thank you. You don't know just how much that means to me. Although I really don't agree with the any girl part. And I would most definitely choose you. You are the _only_ girl I want in my life and nothing will change that."

It was amazing how in the last two days she felt as if she had communicated with Chuck more than she had the whole time she had known him. Or more honestly, at least. Sarah allowed a wide grin to cover her face, but she didn't say anything, afraid that she would completely break down, after all that Chuck kad said.

"So, what movie?" Chuck asked.

"I don't know. Just pop in some random one."

Chuck obliged, and randomly stuck his hand in the DVD case, grabbing one. "Huh. The _Wedding Singer_?" Chuck asked with a crooked smile.

"Would never have guessed that you owned it," Sarah teased, and then broke into a slight coughing fit.

"Good god! Now you're coughing?! You might not get sick often, but when you get sick, you get sick woman! But no, this is one of Ellie's movies. What do you think? Should we watch it? Because I will if you want to."

Sarah weakly shrugged and nodded. Chuck popped the movie in and sat down on the couch, where Sarah repositioned herself so she was comfortably laying her head against Chuck, who laid his arm around her. They sat like that for what must have been over an hour, just enjoying each other's company and watching Robby and Julia deny their feelings for each over and over. Neither of them said a word about how close to home some parts of it hit. Sarah dozed off after a while, and Chuck forgot about the movie. If he had the choice, he'd just watch her all day long. He watched her sleep, watched her chest rise and fall, watched her seem to undergo a transformation from a tense and sick protector to a relaxed and happy woman.

Suddenly, Chuck heard two men arguing outside. Oh shit! That sounded like Alan!

"Sarah, wake up," he whispered.

She drowsily raised her head. "Hmm?"

He forced a smile and jumped off of the couch, "C'mon, Charlie has to see you. I'll carry you to the door and then you can lean on me."

Before she could reply that she could walk, he lifted her and quickly walked to the door, all the time making sure that he wasn't shaking her or anything. "Ready?"

Sarah nodded, and Chuck carefully helped her stand. He opened the door, and the voice became more clear.

"Alan, I am not going to join you and your nerd friend. You'll be fine."

"But Charlie, I don't even know him. You're the one who pressured me into seeing him at his house before we even really got-"

"Alan, I doubt that anyone who work at a Buy More is going to be dangerous. Besides, it will be good for you."

"Hello, Alan, and this must be Charlie," Chuck called, knowing he needed to get Charlie to notice Sarah, even if he didn't really want him to.

Charlie's eyes widened. "You know what? I am going to come with you if it's alright with Chuck here," Charlie changed his mind upon seeing Sarah, "who's the girl?" he whispered to Alan.

Charlie parked his car and Alan and him walked towards the house. Chuck restrained himself as he watched Charlie look Sarah over like a piece of meat.

"Hello Chuck. And who are you beautiful?" Charlie inquired, having eyes only for Sarah the whole time he walked up to the door. Chuck grimaced, already disliking the man.

And the mission began.

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_Please review. Any suggestions about Charlie and Alan's attitudes? Any loose ends that you think I haven't tied up? Anything? :)_


	7. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I own no part of Chuck, Two and a Half Men, or any of the video games mentioned. Admittedly, not a whole lot happens in this chapter, but it had to happen so...enjoy :) (at least I hope you enjoy it)_

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"Hi, I'm Sarah. Chuck's girlfriend," she quickly added the last part as she put her arm around Chuck's waist, trying not to grimace at how Charlie was inspecting her like a piece of meat. He could at least do it subtly, Sarah thought.

"Alan, Jake! Sorry about the change of plans," Chuck greeted them, pointedly focusing on them as they walked up to the house, ignoring Charlie's obvious interest in Sarah.

Chuck led Sarah into the house (she still had to lean on him, although she was a lot better), and the Harpers followed him in. Chuck was sure he could hear what sounded suspiciously like Casey laughing in the bushes, but he ignored it.

"So, would you like to play video games, eat, talk, what?" Chuck asked, unsure of what he should say.

"I'm hungry," Jake offered, instantly perking up at the prospect of food.

"Okay, is everyone else alright with food?" Chuck tried to break the silence that had overcame the room.

"Sounds good to me, but I've got to warn you that Jake here can eat you out of house and home," Charlie grinned.

"That's true. Uhh, do you want me to pay? Because he can eat a lot more than you'd think," Alan admitted.

"No, no, my treat. I invited you over. What kind of pizza does everyone want? I know one vegetarian with no olives, what do you guys like?"

"Vegetarian with no olives?! Be a man, Chuck! How about supreme or pepperoni?" Charlie goaded.

Sarah glared at him, and Chuck grinned mentally, as Charlie didn't realize what a serious topic he had just approached. And, once again, Chuck thought he could hear Casey laughing.

"What, might I ask, is the matter with a vegetarian pizza with no olives?" Sarah growled.

"Oh, was that for you? I was just joking. I'll take the same," Charlie managed to get out.

"Pepperoni sounds good to me," Alan said, "And Jake will eat anything, so..."

"Will two pizzas cover it or do you want three? Because I have chips and soda, but do you think three?" Chuck asked.

"Two probably," Alan suggested.

"Yeah, we fed the brat before we got here, so two should do it," Charlie agreed.

"Hey! That was very hurtful, Uncle Charlie," Jake said solemnly.

"Just being honest, knucklehead."

"Is he always like that Jake?" Sarah asked curiously, deciding to try to embarrass Charlie as much as possible.

'Worse. You should hear him when he's talking to the women he-"

"Hey! Now that isn't true! I'm always respectful of women," Charlie denied.

Judging from the disbelieving snort from Alan, that wasn't even close to the truth. Chuck picked up his iPhone, meanwhile, and called to order the pizza. He stepped into the kitchen for a minute, as Charlie and Alan were apparently arguing about something, and Chuck didn't want to know what.

"Yep, umm two large pizzas please. One large vegetarian with no olives, and one pepperoni. Deliver. To-"

Meanwhile...

"He must really take you for granted. He hasn't even said much to you all evening," Charlie said.

"You've been here for a whole ten minutes and you're already hitting on his girlfriend! Unbelievable!" Alan exclaimed quietly, hoping that Chuck didn't hear.

""I'm not hitting on her. We're just talking. Right?"

"No. You're talking and I'm waiting for my boyfriend," Sarah corrected him.

"Sassy are we?"

"Just honest."

"Honesty. That's a hard trait to come by nowadays. He must be really lucky to have you. Even if he does seem to take you for granted."

"Chuck does not take me for granted! In fact, I told him to go out tonight but he decided to stay with me! Now if you-"

"Sarah, calm down. You're going to lose your voice again!" Chuck came back, the pizza having been ordered.

He sat down beside her and put his left arm around her, glowering at Charlie. "Jake here's pretty good at video games. I'm not sure what you have, but he was pretty excited to go against you," Alan tried to change the subject and ease the tension in the room.

"Really? What do you play, Jake? There's a few games down there. I'll play you on any of them if you want," Chuck suggested, eager to do something besides talk to Charlie.

Jake quickly picked out a new Call of Duty game. Sarah had watched Chuck play this before and, while she had found it amusing that he played such a game, even she had been able to tell that he was good at it. Chuck popped the game in, and sat down on the carpet, afraid of accidentally hitting Sarah (he really got into video games when he played them).

"Work together or go against each other?"

"Work together. I haven't played this one before."

Chuck nodded and they quickly chose their characters. Soon they were playing.

"Hey, Jake! Shoot him!"

"I got him! Aah! No I didn't!"

"There you go! I'll get the ones on the left; you take the ones on the right!"

Jake nodded, and they proceeded to begin shooting when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Alan offered.

Chuck just nodded and continued playing. Sarah pretended to be completely focused on the game, because she could tell Charlie was going to say something else to her. Sure enough

"Funny isn't it, how-"

"Some people just won't give up?" Sarah cut him off.

"Well, persistence can be a very good trait in certain situations, if you know what I mean."

"It can also be a way a person copes with denial. Not being able to believe that someone turned them down."

"Touché. However, what I was going to say was-"

"I'm sure that you think that whatever you were going to say is extremely funny or intelligent or something, but I could honestly care less. Judging form everything else that you have said, that you have thought has been so charming, I can live without this comment."

Alan snickered, amazed at how easily this woman was putting his brother down, as he led the pizza delivery guy inside. Chuck meanwhile, had been pretending to be completely focused on the video game, but he also had to hold back a laugh. He paused the video game and paid for the pizza, still trying not to laugh. Sarah had decided that, after year of having to throw herself at, or pretend to be interested in every pig the CIA told her to be, she was not going to put up with this one.

"Ignoring that comment, I just find it amusing that while both Chuck here and I have the same full name, we are so different."

"That's for sure," Sarah muttered, but decided to let Charlie go on.

"Even the names we go by give different ideas. Chuck is immature, nerdy, poor-"

"Easygoing, kind, loving, connectable, sympathetic-" Sarah disagreed.

Alan was watching in amazement, and Chuck excused himself to the bathroom, not sure how else he was to "ignore his advances on Sarah" when they were so obvious.

"And Charlie is rich, mature-"

"Conceited, lazy, old-"

"Now wait a minute! You are in Chuck's house, eating pizza Chuck paid for, and yet you are making fun of him? What's wrong with this picture?" Alan cried.

"Wait! The pizza's here and no one told me?" Jake asked, grabbing a slice of it.

"I don't know, guys. I think Charlie here's just joking around. He probably just had a few beers," Chuck, back, said, knowing that he was supposed to be friends with him by the time the night was over.

"Thanks Chuck! While it was actually bourbon, I wasn't serious!"

"Chuck forced a smile and held out his hand, "Forgiven and forgotten?" he asked.

"Sure," as Charlie thought, what an idiot. I'll have his girl in a few days.

The rest of the night passed without any major incidents, when eleven o' clock hit.

"It's kind of Jake's bedtime, so I think we'll be going," Alan said good-bye.

"Thanks for everything. This was fun. We'll have to do it again sometime soon," he added.

Alan dragged Jake out the door (he was staring at what was left of the pizza). Only Charlie was left. He kissed Sarah on the cheek (as she grimaced) and then stopped at the door.

"Sunday a bunch of my friends are coming over to celebrate a new jingle. Will you come?" he was asking both of them, but looking at Sarah the whole time.

"We'll be there," Chuck nodded.

"See you then."

When the car finally disappeared, Chuck and Sarah collapsed on the couch. Casey jumped through a window, sneering.

"I really don't know how you did it Bartowski, but we'll discuss the plan for Sunday tomorrow. Now you really could work on your ignoring skills when it comes to his flirting. And Walker, you're lucky he is persistent."

"How the hell was I supposed to ignore some of those comments?"

"I warned you he was a pig."

"He was worse than a pig," Sarah argued.

Casey just laughed and shrugged. Tomorrow at 9. You can sleep now, because there's not much that we really have to go over. Casey left (also through the window, for some strange reason).

"Do you want to stay another night, because I can drive you back to your apartment if you want?"

"Are you trying to get rid of me, Chuck? Because I promise I'll be nicer to you than I was to Charlie," Sarah joked.

"N-no. I'd love it if you'd stay but I wasn't sure because-"

"It's alright Chuck, I want to stay."

Chuck grinned, for the first real time all night. "So do you want me to sleep on the floor again or-"

"Chuck, it's fine. We can both sleep in the bed," Sarah said, secretly wanting to. But, seeing the curious look on Chuck's face, she quickly added, "Anyways, what if Ellie checks on you tomorrow morning?"

Chuck's grin faded, as he thought that this was all, once again, for cover.

"Plus, I really want to," Sarah whispered into his ear, surprising both herself and Chuck.

Why did she always do that? One minute she'd pretend there was nothing between them, and the next she'd be admitting the truth. With all of the mixed signals she was giving, it was no wonder Chuck was so confused. Then again, he wasn't the only one confused about their relationship, she thought.


	8. Chapter 7

_Thanks for the reviews! =) _

_Disclaimer: I own no part of Chuck or any of the video games mentioned_

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Ellie came in early the next morning. She noticed the pizza and video game controllers that were strewn everywhere and, with a sigh, wondered what had happened last night. She couldn't imagine Sarah wanting pizza and video games for her night in while she was sick. In fact, Ellie wasn't even sure if Sarah could eat pizza yet, as sick as she had been.

"Whoa! What happened here?" Devon asked, looking around.

"I have no idea," Ellie answered.

"Maybe Sarah wanted to practice some of the games for Chuck's dude night tonight!" Devon suggested.

"Oh my god! That's tonight! And I haven't even begun to plan the food or anything!"

"Ellie, it's a bunch of guys playing video games and hanging out. You just need to order more pizza and buy some chips or something. It's no big deal. It'll be awesome no matter what!"

"B-but I should-"

"You should get some sleep."

Devon firmly led her towards the bedroom, and Ellie obliged, yawning.

A few hours later...

Beep beep beep beep.

"Ugh!" Chuck woke up and rolled over, carefully avoiding too much contact with Sarah, and turned the alarm clock off. He had to work this morning.

"Do you want to take the first shower or?" Chuck asked.

"You can," Sarah mumbled before pulling the covers back over her head.

Chuck got up, wondering whether Sarah was still sick, or just tired from last night, since she was normally on the go from the minute she got up. He picked out his Nerd Herd uniform. After a nice relaxing shower, he felt ready for the day. Well, kind of. He was worried about what condition BuyMore would be in since he hadn't been there for a few days.

Knowing that Sarah didn't have to work today, and seeing that she was still peacefully sleeping, he left a note for her, and left for work (he managed to avoid Ellie, but that meant that he didn't get to eat breakfast). It wasn't until he got to work and was greeted by an extremely happy Morgan that he was reminded of the Guy's Night.

"Hey Chuck! Sarah feeling better? She ready to be seriously beat at some video games tonight?" Morgan asked, grinning.

"Oh crap! That's tonight, isn't it!" Chuck groaned. Now he was really glad he hadn't seen Ellie this morning. It would have been bad enough with the mess they had left last night, but now Ellie would be in full planning mode.

"Well yeah, man! I mean, c'mon, it's what I've been living for all week. Because with the mood Big Mike's been in lately-whoa! I don't know if I'd have survived if it hadn't been for a night of video games and partying at the end of the week!" Morgan cried, "How could you forget?!"

"I honestly don't know, buddy. I mean, I've been pretty busy this week what with Sarah being sick and Ellie trying to plan everything out to the most insignifigant detail, but I don't see how I could completely forget that!" Chuck exclaimed, wondering how mad Ellie was going to be when she realized all of th planning was left up to her.

"But Ellie's going to be there, right? And Sarah's better?" Morgan asked, oblivious to just how mad Chuck was at himself. He really didn't see what the big deal was.

But to Chuck, it was the tip of the iceberg. He saw it as just another thing that he had done wrong, trying to do everything right. With his life as the Intersect and his life as a nerdy BuyMore worker, he was becoming more and more forgetful. Sure, forgetting the guy's night wasn't exactly horrible, but the next thing he knew Chuck could forget a mission, or what was in the "real' world and what was only in the "spy" world. One slip up and, well, he didn't think the results would be very pretty. Chuck sighed, and adjusted his tie, ready for another day of work, when he realized Morgan was apparently waiting for Chuck to say something.

"Sorry little buddy, got kinda lost in my thoughts there. What'd you say?"

"Geesum Chuck, you awake way up there? I wanted to make sure that Ellie would be there," Morgan replied, punching Chuck in the shoulder.

"Yes Morgan, Ellie and Sarah will both be there. As will Awesome," Chuck warned, smiling.

"Oh well. As long as Ellie's there," Morgan weakly smiled.

Chuck laughed as he leaned against the Nerd Herd desk, glad that business was slow. Chuck had no real trouble all day. The plan for the whole mission was postponed to that afternoon, for reasons Casey wouldn't disclose, so Chuck didn't even have to worry about that yet. He fixed a few cell phones and had to help a man find out where one of his files on his laptop went. Chuck really didn't know how some of these people went through life with so little knowledge about technology.

"Hey Chuck, your future wife's here," Morgan alerted Chuck, who was bent over a Mp3 player with messed up folders.

"Sarah's here?" Chuck asked, instantly looking around.

"Over by the door. See, you're meant to be! Future wife equals Sarah," Morgan taunted.

Chuck ignored Morgan and questioningly waved to Sarah. Why was she here? Then Ellie walked through the door behind her. Oh crap! Now he was in for it. Sure enough, Sarah flashed him a look that basically said RUN! Chuck winced, but bravel stood his ground, prepared for the worst. Sarah reached him first.

"Boy are you in for it. I tried to take some of the blame, but Ellie's decided it's all your fault. And somehow, Morgan is behind it too," Sarah warned him.

"Wait, is this about the huge mess or is this about the guy's night?" Chuck wondered.

"Both," Sarah grinned and didn't say anything else, since Ellie was now almost to them.

"CHUCK! What were you thinking, leaving everything for Sarah and I? Here Sarah is, just recovering from her cold, and she has to help me pick up after my little brother! And why did we have to pick up that huge mess you left last night besidesz the fact that it made the whole house look horrible? Because you are suppose to have a party tonight! A party that we haven't even begun to figure out the details to! Sure, we know that people are coming, but what are we going to serve? What video games are we going to play? Are we going to have tournaments or is everyone just going to play for the heck of it?!" Elli cried, clearly exasperated.

Chuck, who was being glared at by Big Mike, made the mistake of signalling him that he would be taking his break then.

"And how dare you ignore me! After all I have tried to do for you this morning?! All I want are answers and you can't even listen to me?"

"Ellie, it's alright. I was just-"

"Chuck, I've had enough of that form Devon this morning! Oh, it's all right babe, it'll be awesome!"

Chuck took a few seconds to breathe, wondering how he was going to get Ellie to listen to **him**. He looked at Sarah for ideas, but she was trying not to laugh at Chuck, obviously enjoying this. "Ellie, the mess this morning was from where a few of my friends came over last night and we stayed up playing v-" Sarah was shaking her head furiously. Board games, she mouthed. "Board games." Chuck said, wondering if he had said the right thing for the first time all day.

"If you were playing board games, why were some of the video games out?" Ellie played the part of an interrogator perfectly, narrowed eyes and all.

"Uh Monopoly was under there, by the video games, and Sarah wanted to play it, so we had to find it. But it was buried under all of the-"

"Yet Monopoly was still right where it has been since New Years," Ellie challenged.

"I decided there wasn't enough time for Monopoly, so we played Yahtzee instead," Sarah tried to help him out.

"Fine. Let's just say that what you and Sarah say is the truth. That is, after all, the least of our problems. Now, what are we going to do tonight?" Ellie sighed, giving in, if only for the moment.

"Why don't we order pizza to make it simple, and you can make advertisements if you want, or you can buy chips, and I don't know, maybe Oreos?" Chuck suggested.

"If you think I am going to serve Oreos and chips tonight you are wrong! I said I wanted this party to be perfect. Chips and Oreos and pizza is not even close to perfect! Now, what if I make buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks, some kind of cookie or cake, and we order the pizza?"

"That would be great, El, but do you have enough time?"

"Of course I do! Sarah will help me! Right, Sarah?"

Now it was Chuck's turn to smirk and try not to laugh. Sarah in the kitchen!

"I don't know Ellie, I'm really not that great at cooking," Sarah warned her.

"Perfect time to learn!" Ellie said briskly, apparently now satisfied with her plan. "Now that that's settled-and you had better not do that ever again Chuck-I'm going to get started."

Ellie walked off, leaving Sarah with a worried look on her face.

"You'll be fine. Just try not to burn anything, okay?" Chuck grinned. Sarah glared at him.

"Ellie basically takes over in the kitchen anyways, so you won't have to do much," Chuck reassured her.

"You better hope so, if you want anything there to be edible," Sarah smiled. She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed Chuck, "See you in a while."

It might have been a cover kiss, but it sent a jolt up his spine. He would never get used to that, he admitted to himself as he waved to Sarah, who was hurrying after Ellie.

"Sounds like you were a bad boy, Chuck," Lester snickered.

"Get back to work," Chuck waved it off.

It wasn't until around one that Casey pulled him off to find out what chuck was supposed to do next, concerning the mission.

"Where's Walker? I told her that she had to be here twenty minutes ago!" Casey growled.

"Ellie was having her help cook for tonight," Chuck explained.

"Oh god. No one's going to make it out of that party alive if Walker helps cook."

Just then, Sarah came flying through the door. She smelled like tabasco sauce, an she had flour all over her face. Casey and Chuck laughed, but quickly shut up when she shot them a glare.

"I hope this is quick, because I'm supposed to be buying drinks right now. It was hard enough to convince Ellie to let me go."

"The house isn't burned down yet, is it?" Chuck teased.

"Sit down and stop fooling around. General Beckman's going to be on in a minute," Casey ordered.

Sarah and Chuck both sat down, and, sure enough, Beckman's head soon filled the screen.

"Great job last night. Major Casey has already informed me of what happened," Beckman responded to Sarah's confused expression. "Now, we have found more information on Victor Harrison, the man that we thought was Fulcrum."

"Thought, General? He's not?" Casey interrupted.

"No. However, we are going to continue to pursue him because we believe him to have many major connections in the criminal world. We think that Harrison is used as a common man between Fulcrum agents. He passes of packages, as well as information that he finds out from being around people like Charles Harper."

"What kinds of packages, General?" Sarah asked.

"Access codes, coded information, the occasional weapon, anything that can be used in a mission."

"Now, because Harrison has so many connections, we are going to try to bug him and his hotel room. If we find out anything, we will target those agents. Major Casey has the bugs. Otherwise, we will continue the mission as before. Bartowski, don't try to get close to Harrison. Yes, I know you too well. He might be dangerous, and it would be too great a risk. Any questions?"

"How are we going to bug his hotel room?" Sarah wondered.

"Major Casey is going to bug his room while he is over at the Harpers with you, so we are sure that he won't be there. He will hurry back to make sure that you have backup in case anything goes wrong," here she looked straight at Chuck, "Now, keep up the good work."

The screen went black. Since the mission seemed simple, they spent little time talking about it. Sarah hurried back to Casa Bartowski, not wanting Ellie to get as mad as she had been this morning. Chuck and Casey went back to work. Chuck was a little suspicious because the rest of the day at BuyMore went by really well. Jeff even managed to stay out of the bathroom for most of the day. Chuck had no idea what was going on, but it was nice. He left the BuyMore with a smirk on his face as he wondered how the food had came out. Sure enough, when he reached Casa Bartowski, black smoke seemed to be coming out of the oven, and Devon was bent over it, apparently trying to get whatever was in it out. Sarah was standing off to the side with a guilty expression on her face.

Chuck snuck up behind her (taking advantage of the chaotic situation, since he owuld never be able to do such a thing when she was alert) and whispered in her ear "I hate to pry, but what happened here?"

"I left the pigs in a blanket in too long," she admitted.

"So my perfect woman isn't completely perfect?" he joked.

"Not even close," Sarah grinned, realizing that Chuck could care less about whether or not she could cook.

"That's alright. You're far enough out of my league as it is."

"What are these things?! Because they so do not look awesome!" Devon exclaimed, having finally got the pan out and having put it in the sink, not knowing what else to do.

"We're going to have to make more! How much time do we have?! Chuck, there you are! Do we have enough time?" Ellie was in near hysterics, apparently having had a long day of cooking.

Chuck raised his eyebrows, not having seen Ellie like this since the day Devon's parents came over. Behind Ellie, Devon shrugged in answer to Chuck's expression. He was equally perplexed.

"Whoa! How much food have you guys made today?!" Chuck asked, looking around at tons of food. "You do realize that this is just going to be a small 'party', if you can even call it a party?"

"It's always better to be prepared! Do we have time?"

"If you really want to, I think you have just enough time," Sarah answered. "But I think we do have enough food, Ellie."

"But there needs to be pigs in blankets! They're like a staple in Bartowski parties!" Ellie immediantly began to work on a new batch. Chuck was sad to see that she had enough ingredients to make another batch, so he had no excuse to not stay.

"Do you need any help?" Sarah asked, although she seemed to be afraid of the answer.

"No, I'm fine. You guys can just relax. Or actually, you can clean!"

Devon, Sarah, and Chuck walked out of the kitchen and collapsed on the couch.

"Clean?! It looks like this place is spotless!" Chuck remarked.

"It is. Ellie spent all afternoon either cleaning or making Sarah clean. It was so not awesome," Devon explained.

Chuck shrugged and continued to sit there, as did Devon and Sarah. They decided that they would risk a scolding from Ellie since the only other choice was attempting to pretend to clean an area that really couldn't be any cleaner.

"Aaah! Morgan's here! Quick, take the trays of food and put them on the coffee table and the kitchen table," Ellie ordered.

Chuck and Sarah proceeded to move the trays as they had been instructed, while Devon went to answer the door. Morgan was overwhelmed when he came in.

"I thought you said this was just gonna be a small party Chuck! This is like, amazing!" Morgan admired the living room, which had video games, food, and drinks on every surface.

"Ellie kind of went overboard," Chuck whispered to his friend.

"Should have known Ellie would make this like unbelievable," Morgan said.

"And pigs in blankets are on the way," Ellie callled, as she hovered over the oven, worried about them catching on fire again.

"So, what game do you guys want to play first?" Chuck asked.

"I'll go against you on Halo," Morgan suggested as he crammed something in his mouth. "Hey, what is this thing? Because it tastes good, but it looks kinda...different."

"Oh, that's a mozzarella stick," Sarah answered.

"Huh. Are you sure it is? Because it looks more like a smiley fry." Morgan took another bite, "It does taste like one, though."

"Sorry, I made them, and they came out a little....deformed," Sarah blushed.

Chuck tried not to laugh, but he really couldn't hold it back.

"Thank you for your support Chuck! I didn't think they came out that bad, especially since Ellie was telling me about the time you were in a hotel and you tried to, what was it, warm up a slice of pizza, and you set the fire alarms off?" Sarah taunted.

"Hey, I never said **I** was a great chef," Chuck laughed, although his face was bright red.

They continued to tease each other while Chuck went against Morgan at Halo (Chuck still own because Morgan was so distracted by Ellie and the food, especially the pigs in blankets, when they finally came out. The whole night went really well, except for when Casey and Jake decided to go as a team (Sarah dared Jake to ask him) on an older Call of Duty. Casey kept yelling at Jake, telling him he wasn't taking the right shots, and he needed to follow orders, not 'go rogue'.

"Rogue? What's rogue? It sounds kind of like some food," had been Jake's only response.

Well, that and when Casey basically completed a whole mission himself (although it took him a while to get used to the controls) and Jake got mad and threw a thoroughly battered buffalo wing at him. That didn't go over so well, but everyone lived through it. Alan didn't play many video games (althouhg he did play Driver 2 once) because he got too worked up over what he was supposedly doing. Like when he hijacked a car from an elderly woman, and then tried to give it back to her. Sarah went against Chuck on, of all things, Madden 2009. It was a close game (Chuck knew more of the controls, but Sarah knew more about football-which Chuck vowed to ask her about later), but Sarah won 40 (she got five touchdowns, all with two point conversions because Chuck couldn't manage to blovk her) to 35 (Chuck got three touchdowns with extra points, one with a two point conversion, and two field goals). Chuck was getting a lot of crap for the loss, so he challenged her to Halo after. He creamed her.

When the night ended, everyone was happy (except for maybe Casey), and almost all of the food was gone. Sarah had had a little to drink, and Ellie convinced her to (once again) spend the night. Although she was a little more open than usual, Chuck refused to take advantage of it, and they slept as they had that morning-holding each other, but doing nothing else. Although Chuck couldn't help but wonder if someday they might. At least tonight he hadn't had to listen to Charlie. Even if he would have to tomorrow.


End file.
